Translations

Female body shape has a bearing on a wide range
of human activities, and there are and have been widely different
ideals of it in different
cultures over history. The female figure is usually narrower at the
waist than at the chest and hips, and
usually has one of four basic shapes — banana, pear, apple or
hourglass. The chest, waist and hips are called inflection points,
and the ratios of their circumferences define
these basic shapes. Body shape depends on skeletal structure and
the distribution of fat in the body.

Some of these body shapes normally occur only in
women, although some endocrine
conditions or deliberate use of female hormones, such as by
transsexuals, can
produce them in male bodies. As with most physical traits, there is
a wide range of normal female body shapes.

Shape

The female form is a combination of multiple
attributes which cause many conflicting descriptions when taken as
a whole.

Three inflection points

seealso BWH The female body has
three key physical points of inflection:

Chest, which is measured across the fullest part of the bust

Waist, which is usually measured at the smallest circumference
of the abdomen

Hips, which is usually measured at the largest circumference of
the hips and buttocks

The female body usually inflects inward towards
the waist around the middle of the abdomen. The waist is smaller
than the chest and hips, unless there is a high proportion of body
fat distributed around the waist. How much the chest or hips
inflect inward, towards the waist determines the structural
shape.

A woman's "dimensions" are often presented by the
circumference around these three inflection points. For example
"36-29-38" in Imperial
units, meaning a 36"
chest, 29" waist and 38" hips.

Four combinatorial structures

Independent of fat
percentage, weight or width, most female bodies have one of four
elementary geometries, ordered by their commonality in western
society.

A study of over 6,000 women carried out by
researchers at the
North Carolina State University around 2005 found that 46% were
Banana (rectangular), just over 20% Pear, just under 14% Apple, and
8% Hourglass.

The inflection points on the female form define a
woman's combinational structure. Any structure can occur in a range
of proportions.

Weight and fat distribution

Shape is affected by fat
distribution due to sex hormone
levels. The concentrations of estrogen influence where body
fat is stored. Before puberty both males and females have similar
WHR. Normal pre-menopausal female estrogen levels will cause the
body to store fat in the buttocks, thighs, and hips. Hence,
pre-menopausal females generally have fat distributed around their
hip section but not around their waist. This causes their waist-hip
ratio (waist measurement divided by hip measurement) to be
lower than males. When women pass menopause, the estrogen
produced by ovaries reduces, causing fat to redistribute from their
buttocks, hips and thighs to their waist. Fat stored during
subsequent weight gain is primarily concentrated in the abdomen.

Body Mass Index, which considers only height and
total mass, is an approximate method for calculating whether an
adult is overweight, underweight, or of a healthy weight. Some
recent research indicates that the waist-hip ratio is a better
measure of obesity than body mass index, particularly for the
purpose of determining risk of heart attack. The ideal ratio for
women is about 0.7. The body
fat percentage is considered to be an even more accurate
measure of obesity. Of these three measurements, only the waist-hip
ratio uses dimensions that will vary depending upon the body
structure. Hence, it is possible for two women to have vastly
different body mass indices but the same waist-hip ratio, or to
have the same body mass index but vastly different waist-hip
ratios.

The ideal female body size and shape varies among
cultures; however, the preference for a small waist has remained
fairly constant throughout history. A low waist-hip ratio has often
been seen as a sign of good reproductive potential, but recent
research suggests that attractiveness is more correlated to
body
mass index than waist-hip ratio, contrary to previous
belief.

Societal impact

Many societies vary on their contrasts,
criticisms and praise of the female form. Crowd leaders, such as
celebrities, also
impact the "desirable" female body shape.

Social conditioning to obesity

As average body mass
continues to increase in Western nations, people are becoming
desensitized to obesity and view an increasingly larger amount of
body fat as "normal" or "acceptable". People are especially likely
to take cues on acceptable body size from their social circle,
gaining weight concurrently with those around them. A study by RMIT
School of Health Sciences showed that obese teenagers and their
parents were highly likely to underestimate their weight,
"highlight[ing] the concern that overweight and obesity are now so
common that they have become 'normalised'". In contrast with the
common perception that Western culture is obsessed with thinness,
these findings would suggest that individuals are typically less
concerned with maintaining a lean, healthy weight than medical
science recommends.

Many "curvy" American film stars from the early
and mid-20th century are cited as inspirations by overweight women
when, in reality, they were thin even by today's standards.
Marilyn
Monroe is said to have worn a size 16 dress. However, this
fails to consider the changes in
American garment sizing over the last century. Monroe was 5'5",
weighed 118 lbs and measured 36-24-34, which would make her
approximately a women's size 2 by modern
American sizing standards. Similar misconceptions about the
body sizes of classic sex icons may reinforce the idea that an
overweight physique is healthy and appropriate.

Feminism and body shape

Feminists
criticise the excessive emphasis on body shape as part of women's
self-image in
Western society, and contend that an ample body shape is more
typical of real women in the West than the ideal pushed by some
parts of the Western media through depictions of extremely thin
actresses and fashion
models. However, in media made predominantly by and for
heterosexual men, such as video games,
comic
books, sports
entertainment, or pornography, a more buxom
and curvaceous female ideal with large breasts, small waist and
rounded hips is portrayed, one that is more in line with the sexual
desires of men than those seen in the fashion or beauty
industries.

Anorexia and media depictions of women

Sociocultural
studies highlight the role of cultural factors in the incidence of
anorexia
nervosa in women, such as the promotion of thinness as the
ideal female form in Western industrialised nations, particularly
through the media. A recent epidemiological study of 989,871
Swedish residents indicated that gender, ethnicity and socio-economic
status were highly correlated with the chance of developing
anorexia, and women with non-European parents were among the least
likely to be diagnosed, while women in wealthy, ethnic Swedish
families were most at risk.

A classic study by Garner and Garfinkel
demonstrated that those in professions where there is a particular
social pressure to be thin (such as models and
dancers) were much more
likely to develop anorexia during their career, and further
research suggests that those with anorexia have much higher contact
with cultural sources that promote weight-loss.

Although anorexia nervosa is usually associated
with Western cultures, exposure to Western media is thought to have
led to an increase in cases in non-Western counties. But other
cultures may not display the same worries about becoming fat as
those with the condition in the West, but instead may present with
low appetite with the other common features.